Tim Curry, of 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show,' dies at 80

The gender-bending role as Dr. Frank-N-Furter put Curry on the map in 1975. He then went on to play a number of villainous roles like Gomez Addams, Pennywise and Bill Sikes, but also Mozart and William Shakespeare.

Actor Tim Curry died at the age of 80, Variety, TMZ and other celebrity news outlets reported on Wednesday. 

A cause of death was not immediately given but Curry had been in poor health for some time following a severe stroke that left him confined to a wheelchair and wrote in his memoir "Vagabond" last year that he was still not able to walk. 

Curry won Laurence Olivier and Tony Award nominations for his work on stage in the UK and the US, as well delivering Emmy-winning TV performances later in his career. 

The baritone-voiced British actor with a penchant for a goatee beard was thrust into stardom when he played the role of the lingerie-clad sweet singing transvestite Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the cult classic film "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" in 1975. 

He went on to play an array of other roles that involved elaborate costumes, unusual mannerisms, and often a fairly pronounced dark side in his career — but he also played some of history's most consequential figures like Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, William Shakespeare, and even King Arthur — albeit in the Monty Python musical stage show "Spamalot." 

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